NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER Review: The Mid-Range Contender

Introduction

The GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER represents NVIDIA's refresh of the original RTX 2070, offering improved performance and better value in the mid-range segment. This card aims to deliver solid 1440p gaming performance while providing entry-level ray tracing capabilities.

Design and Build Quality

The Founders Edition maintains NVIDIA's high standards for build quality, featuring a dual-fan design that effectively manages thermals while maintaining reasonable noise levels.

Gaming Performance

The RTX 2070 SUPER delivers strong performance at 1440p resolution, though it may require some settings adjustments in the most demanding modern titles.

1440p Gaming Performance

• Cyberpunk 2077 (Ray Tracing Medium): 52 FPS
• Microsoft Flight Simulator: 65 FPS
• Red Dead Redemption 2: 78 FPS
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III: 95 FPS

Ray Tracing and DLSS

First-generation RT cores provide basic ray tracing capabilities, though performance can be limited in modern titles. DLSS support helps maintain playable framerates when ray tracing is enabled.

Content Creation

The RTX 2070 SUPER offers decent performance for content creation tasks:

• Video Editing: Good performance with 1080p and 4K footage
• Streaming: Reliable NVENC encoding capabilities
• 3D Rendering: Adequate performance for moderate workloads

Thermal and Power Performance

The cooling solution manages heat effectively:

• Load Temperatures: 72°C average under full load
• Fan Noise: 35dB under typical gaming loads
• Power Draw: 215W typical gaming power draw

Memory Configuration

The 8GB GDDR6 memory provides:

• Memory Bandwidth: 448 GB/s
• Memory Interface: 256-bit
• Memory Type: GDDR6

Overclocking

The RTX 2070 SUPER shows good overclocking potential:

• Core: +150 MHz boost clock typical
• Memory: +800 MHz effective typical
• Power Limit: 110% maximum

These overclocks typically result in a 5-8% performance improvement.

Value and Conclusion

While superseded by newer generations, the RTX 2070 SUPER represented a solid value proposition in the Turing lineup, offering improved performance over the original RTX 2070 at a similar price point.

Long-term Considerations

The combination of 8GB VRAM and DLSS support helps maintain the card's relevance, though ray tracing performance in modern titles may be limited. Driver maturity and widespread DLSS adoption are significant advantages.